


Girls' Day Out

by pocky_slash



Category: FF (Comics)
Genre: Canon Trans Character, Gen, Girls' Night Out, Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:27:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1392739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocky_slash/pseuds/pocky_slash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Scott spending the day trying to smooth things over with <em>The Daily Bugle</em>, the rest of the FF are tasked with staying out of the spotlight for twenty four hours. Darla rises to the challenge by taking the girls out on a shopping trip to get Tong a new wardrobe and get to know her team a little better. What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girls' Day Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snickfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snickfic/gifts).



"Okay," Scott says during the usual breakfast hubbub. Predictably, it gets little to no reaction, and Darla hides her smile behind a glass of orange juice. Onome and Bentley are arguing, the Moloids are peppering Jen with questions, Alex and Ahura are glaring daggers at each other, and the general chaos of the day has already started, early as it is.

Darla thought she was used to early mornings before she joined the Future Foundation. There were touring days when she was up at 5am to check out of the hotel and move on to the next city, days where she was in the studio recording all night and up for an interview on a morning show after only a few hours of sleep. Those kinds of early mornings, however, have _nothing_ on early mornings in the Baxter Building. The volume alone is enough to make her wish she'd kept her earplugs in once she woke up.

"Guys?" Scott says again, and Darla takes pity on him, raising her fingers to her lips and whistling loudly. The whole table quiets immediately, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Uh, thanks, Darla," Scott says, rubbing the back of his neck. "Now that I have everyone's attention, I'm heading out today to meet with some people about what's been going on with the Future Foundation since the Fantastic Four left. Darla was right--" He nods at her and she nods back, smiling. "We need some positive press. I'll be back by dinner, but I need you all to be extra good while I'm gone. The Future Foundation has had the front page headline on the _Daily Bugle_ every day this week. I'd like _one_ day of relative calm while I'm gone. So try not to get in any trouble. And if that's too much for you to handle--and knowing you, it probably is--at least try to limit your trouble to inside of this building, okay?"

The kids let loose a chorus of grudging _okaaaay_ s, and Scott seems satisfied. Darla is less sure that this is going to work out the way Scott wants, but as long as the day ends with everyone alive, safe, and not being mind-controlled, she's learned to count it as a win.

"Good," Scott says. "Anyway. Carry on."

They already have, of course. Darla ducks just in time to avoid being hit by a flying grape. Scott just sighs.

***

When she accepted the position with the FF from Johnny, Darla expected--well. She hadn't really expected much. Four minutes, he had said, and it was really just a symbolic thing, standing up in front of the crowd to show she was willing to shape the future of the world and help solve important problems and nurture the next generation of great minds. 

You know, like, metaphorically. Four minutes, Johnny said. She figured she'd get some press, meet some cute (albeit weird) kids, maybe get a song out of it. She wasn't expecting to actually have to step into that role. None of them were. She doesn't think it's surprising that she reacted the worst to the sudden responsibility. Scott and Jen and Medusa--they had done this before. Sort of. Kind of. While Darla's talked big talk in interviews about her "responsibility to the girls who look up to me," there's the vague responsibility to not do drugs and cheat on your boyfriend and have a messy downward spiral in the tabloids, and there's the actual responsibility of looking after a bunch of kids.

She thinks she's doing okay. She's not Jen-Walters-practicing-law-kicking-butt-going-on-dates okay, but she's holding her own. She can offer advice based on what she knows best and be a kind ear to the kids when they need it. And it's in that spirit that she hesitates when she sees Tong playing with her brothers in the same pink dress she's been wearing since she made her big announcement. It's kind of a cute look, the dress over her uniform, and the color looks darling with her skin tone, but she wonders if Tong isn't in need of a bigger wardrobe. 

It's Saturday, Scott is out, the kids still aren't bonding as much as she'd like and _she's_ still not feeling like she's anywhere _near_ the level of Jen and Medusa. It might be time for a girls' day out.

The more she thinks about it, the more she likes it. She's smiling full on by the time she finds Jen working out in the gym.

"I have an idea," she says in a rush, and Jen drops the barbell she's holding and sits up so fast she almost hits her head.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

"No," Darla says. "I was just saying--I have an idea. Tong needs a new wardrobe and Scott's out for the day and I thought it might be nice if we had a girl's day out. Leave the boys here with Dragon Man, take Tong and Onome and Vil and Luna out for shopping and lunch, and we can all get to know each other a little better."

Jen stares at her for a moment with a single eyebrow raised.

"Splitting the kids up will mean less likelihood of damage," Darla says. "And, let's face it, Onome and Vil and Luna aren't the ones we're worried about making headlines, and I bet breaking Tong away from her brothers will tamp down her penchant for mischief."

"Hm," Jen says. 

"It'll be fun," Darla insists. "It will give us a time to bond!"

"Well," Jen finally says. "That dress of Tong's is getting a little ratty. And I _was_ looking for something nice to wear out with Wyatt next week. Plus I need to replace a few of my suits...."

"Great!" Darla says. "I'll go round up everyone else and we'll leave in an hour!"

Jen looks skeptical as Darla rushes out to find Medusa, but Darla knows she'll come around once she sees how enthusiastic everyone else is.

***

Perhaps enthusiastic was a little too...enthusiastic.

"No," Medusa says, without even looking up from her tablet. 

"But--" Darla starts to reply.

"No," Medusa repeats. "You will not sway me. Do you honestly believe that your cheap Earth garments are befitting a queen?"

"Well--" Darla tries to say.

"No," Medusa says for the third time. Darla sighs. "But, I suppose you can take Luna. She needs to make friends."

"Great!" Darla says, and tries to be excited at the prospect, though so far she's mostly seen Luna avoiding the other children to watch cartoons or play by herself. Still, maybe this will be the kick towards friendship she needs.

Medusa isn't the only one skeptical of her plan, though.

"I have no need for new clothing," Vil says when Darla stops by the tank to wave her away from her brother for a moment. "Nor do I wish to go elsewhere for lunch, when a perfectly acceptable lunch will be served to me here."

"It will be fun!" Darla says.

"I do not share the same definition of 'fun' as you do, I think," Vil says, and disappears back into the water.

Onome is a little easier to convince.

"Sure," she says, putting down a screwdriver once Darla lays out the plan. "That could be fun, I guess. I don't really need anything, but I'll come along."

"Great!" Darla says. She's three-for-two when she approaches Tong, whom she probably should have spoken with first, given the whole idea for this trip was based around Tong's needs. Still, she lucks out. Tong is thrilled at the idea of a shopping trip.

"Oh yes!" she says, jumping up and down. "Yes, yes, please! Oh, thank you for inviting Tong!"

"You're welcome, Tong," Darla says. "It's Girls' Day Out--of course you're invited."

Tong hugs her tight around the middle, and Darla thinks Medusa's brush-off and Jen's skepticism were totally worth it.

***

They're a strange group, even by New York standards, as they wander down the sidewalks towards their first destination. Tong and Onome are walking a little ahead of the rest of them, occasionally leaning close to whisper. Jen's next in the center, frowning at her phone. Darla's in the rear, rushing to keep up while dragging Luna along by the hand. Passersby seem to be giving them a wide berth, which Darla attributes to the way the FF have been ruling the headlines of the _Bugle_ lately. Luckily, their destination is only a few blocks away.

SUPERkids is a shop Darla read an article about online a few weeks ago. It specializes in tough, cute clothes for superpowered kids. Though the old clientele was mostly mutants, since M-Day, it seems like they've been willing to take on any sort of differently-powered kids to stay in business. It's exactly the place to get the girls loaded up on clothes that have a chance of standing up to their busy lifestyle.

"Hello!" greets a young woman about Darla's age one their whole group has entered the store. "Welcome to SUPERkids! You must be Ms. Deering!"

"I am," Darla says, wrestling her hand back from Luna to offer it to the saleswoman.

"Welcome to our store! I'm Linda and as I said earlier, SUPERkids is SUPER pleased to be able to lend a hand to the FF," the woman says. "We carry a wide range of clothes for boys and girls from toddlers to teenagers for work and play."

Jen is looking around the the shop, taking in the various racks of clothing and photos of superpowered kids on the walls.

"So you cater to kids with powers?" Jen asks.

"We sure do!" Linda says. "Business may not be as great as it was before all the mutants disappeared, but there are plenty of kids out there who still need our products. The only thing--and it's a teeny, tiny little thing--that I have to ask is--well, times being what they are, the economy sinking and the contract with Xavier's school dwindling and all that, we _did_ have to cancel our superhuman protection policy. So I am, of course, required to ask if any of your little angels have any potentially destructive abilities." She smiles down at the girls, all three of whom are regarding her warily. "How about this darling little green lady?"

Tong beams at her.

"Lady has called Tong a lady!" she says, and hugs Linda abruptly. Linda doesn't seem to know quite how to react, but Jen steps in, laying a hand on top of Tong's head and easing her back.

"No destructive powers, no," Jen says. "The blonde's an empath and these two are pretty smart, but you don't have to worry about things exploding or catching on fire."

Linda seems slightly frazzled, but relieved.

"Wonderful!" she says. "Then please, make yourselves at home!"

Darla takes her at her word, and soon she's relaxing by the changing rooms, reading a magazine, as the girls investigate the racks of clothes and try on various outfits. She almost wishes a reporter from the _Bugle_ _was_ here to see how sweet and innocent and normal the FF can be. It's not all about accidentally causing property damage. And, like, as far as she remembers, the Fantastic Four caused property damage _all the time_ and the _Bugle_ always treated them like heroes. 

Being the second string team really sucks.

Darla gets a little absorbed in her magazine, and then next thing she knows, Jen is tapping her on the shoulder.

"Is it just me, or is it a little quiet in here?" she asks, and Darla looks up and glances around the shop. There are a couple of other children shopping with their parents, but their three charges are gone and silent.

"That's probably not good," Darla says, and a moment later, it's confirmed when Luna starts screeching from the vicinity of dressing rooms. The pitch and volume make Darla feel like her hair is standing on end, but before she can even get to her feet, Jen is sprinting towards them.

"Luna!" she bellows.

If something happens to Luna, Medusa is going to _kill_ them.

There's one door in the row of dressing rooms that's closed, and Jen grabs the handle and rips it off its hinges, sending it flying over her shoulder and through part of the wall, coming to land on top of a rack of clothes. The other customers scream, but Darla's not paying attention to them, she's peering into the dressing room where Luna...

...is wearing a really ridiculously ugly outfit with horrendously applied make-up and a wig.

"You said you were making me _pretty_!" she shrieks to Tong and Onome. Tong and Onome both giggle and Darla feels her mouth drop open.

"Oh, jeez," Jen says. Darla can almost hear the swear word she's biting back. "Luna, please don't scream like that unless you're hurt. I thought you were in trouble!"

Darla looks away from the girls and glances back into the store, where Linda is standing with her hands on her hips, fuming.

"I wouldn't say we're out of trouble yet," she murmurs.

***

In the end, they pay for the door, all of the clothes that Tong, Onome, and Luna have picked out, all of the clothes that were ruined by the thrown door, and an additional two grand to pay for repairs. Darla actually winces as she signs the check.

"At least the girls are happy," she says to Jen as they leave, lugging shopping bags with them.

"At least there were no reporters around," Jen says, looking less enthused about Tong and Onome swinging Luna between them. "Now we go back home, right?"

"First I had something else in mind for your date," Darla admits, and steers them further into SoHo towards one of her favorite little boutiques. It's a nice mix of couture and some more reasonably priced dresses, and they have a whole section that caters to tall women.

"Now it's Jen's turn to shop while we watch," Darla tells the girls.

"We will help The Jen!" Tong says. "We will help The Jen pick out a dress!"

Jen tries on a handful of the dresses Tong picks out, a few that she picks out on her own, and, finally, the one that Darla spotted the moment that they came in and knew would be perfect. It's deep indigo and covered with flecks of glitter that spread out across it like constellations.

"There's no way I can afford this, Darla," Jen says, staring at the price tag dubiously.

"Just try it on," Darla insists. "Just see how you look in it first."

Jen sighs, but she disappears back into the changing room again and reappears a moment later. The dress is amazingly flattering. It hugs Jen's body perfectly and would probably be an awkward length on someone shorter, but hits Jen right above the knee. It's a knockout.

"Why did you make me try it on?" Jen moans. "Now I want it and I _know_ I can't--uh oh."

"What?" Darla asks, and then follows Jen's gaze outside to a couple of guys in familiar yellow suits holding guns on the proprietor of the store across the way. "Uh-oh," she repeats. Jen sighs.

"What the hell does AIM want with an antiques store?" Jen asks.

"We should call Scott," Darla says, but Jen just shakes her head.

"Stay with the kids," she says. "I'll be right back."

"Ma'am, you can't take that dress out of the store!" the clerk yells uselessly after her, but Jen is already gone, sprinting across the street in her heels and bursting into the antiques store fists first. Darla watches her for a moment, and then turns to the clerk, glaring at her with crossed arms.

"Do you take AmEx?" she asks hopefully.

***

"At least you got to keep the dress," Darla says. Jen snorts.

"Don't pretend you didn't pay for it," she says. The dress survived the fight, miraculously, and is in a garment bag slung over Jen's shoulders.

"The Jen looked magnificent," Tong says seriously.

"It was really beautiful, Ms. Walters," Onome says, and Luna nods.

"Thanks, girls," Jen says. "Can we _finally_ head back to the Baxter Building now?"

"I'm hungry," Luna says.

"Me too!" Onome says. "Ms. Deering said we could have lunch if we came out! Can't we have lunch without the boys?"

"Tong is so very hungry," Tong says, and all three of them clutch their stomachs as if they didn't just have breakfast a few hours ago. Darla looks beseechingly at Jen. Sure, shopping was a wash and they destroyed more property than Darla was hoping for, but they still haven't done anything front-page-of-the- _Bugle_ worthy and Darla's actually having quite a nice time out with the girls. Onome and Tong and Luna are acting thick as theives now, whispering and holding hands and playing games, and Darla thinks that's worth any of the other unpleasantness.

At least, that's how she's going to explain it to Scott when he gets a look at the FF accounts.

"I would say, 'what harm can it do?' but I know better than to court disaster like that," Jen says. "I will say, 'in for a penny,' which is probably a more realistic prediction for a meal out at this point."

The girls stare at her blankly.

"Yes," Jen says. "Let's go get something to eat."

They settle in at one of the dime-a-dozen Italian cafes scattered around the city, with small tables and murals of Italian fields painted on the walls. She's relatively sure the girls all eat pasta--everyone has a list of foods they like and don't like that's a mile long. The only thing all of the kids can agree on is pancakes and waffles, and Darla's too sick of them to suggest a diner that does twenty-four hour breakfast. But they all study their menus closely and then insist on ordering themselves, like grown-ups, Onome tells her solemnly.

"It's Girls' Day Out, not Kids' Day Out," she says.

"We are all ladies," Tong agrees.

Jen and Darla share a smile, and Darla starts to relax.

First mistake. Or maybe this whole afternoon was her first mistake and this is her nine millionth mistake. She's honestly lost count at this point, but she can't help but notice about halfway through their meal, right around the time Onome comes back from the bathroom, the waitstaff are whispering. And pointing.

"Are you noticing this?" she asks Jen conversationally, trying to look casual.

"I am," Jen says. "Let's see what happens."

Darla can feel herself keying up for a fight as they finish the rest of their lunch, the girls oblivious to the tension building around Jen and Darla. Even Luna doesn't seem to notice, despite her powers, content to draw on the paper placemats while Onome and Tong talk about a book they're both reading for Dragon Man's class. A few members of the waitstaff are definitely up to something. She doesn't have her Thing suit and she's probably no good in a fight on her own, but she can take the girls and run and leave Jen to handle things. 

She looks away to check on the girls again, and when she looks up, the two whispering waiters are gone.

"Did you see where they went?" she asks Jen urgently.

"No!" Jen hisses. "Dammit. What do we do?"

"I don't--" Darla starts to say, when the curtain next to them opens. Darla had assumed it was decorative, but out steps one of the waiters.

"He has a knife!" Jen says, and in the next seconds the table is pushed back and Jen has lept over Darla, pinning the waiter to the table. Darla grabs the nearest weapon--her fork--and brandishes it at the second waiter who's holding--

A cake?

"Oh no, Ms. Walters!" Onome says. 

"He is not a bad guy!" Tong says, waving her arms.

Darla looks around them. The rest of the restaurant patrons are staring.

"We wanted to get you something for taking us out for a Girls' Day!" Onome says. "It was a cake! That's all!"

Darla can feel her face heating up.

"Oh god," she says.

Jen lets the other waiter up and brushes the remains of Darla's penne bolognese off of his shirt.

"Uh, we'll take it to go?" she says.

***

Scott is already waiting for them when they get back. He's sitting at the table in the kitchen, spinning his tablet in a circle.

"You're back," he says. "How did your Girls' Day Out go?"

"Oh, you know," Darla says vaguely.

"I'm going to take a long bubble bath," Jen mutters. "Do not disturb. Any of you." She drops the cake box on the table and disappears down the hall towards her room, muttering, the garment bag with her dress still slung over her shoulder. 

"Why don't you guys put your bags away and then you can come have some cake with me?" Darla says to Onome, Tong, and Luna, who cheer _CAKE!_ and rush off towards their own rooms. Scott is still staring at Darla, an annoying amused smile on his face.

"What?" she asks him.

"That bad, huh?" he asks and she drops into a chair and sighs.

"It was...an experience," she says delicately. " _But_ , we completely held up our end of the bargain. As...trying as some of our adventures were, there wasn't a single _Daily Bugle_ reporter in sight. The FF will _not_ have the front page headline of Sunday's paper!"

"Yeah," Scott says, turning on his tablet and sliding it across the table, "that's because you're already the most-read stories on the _Daily Bugle_ blog today."

Darla feels her mouth slip open. Story after story about their afternoon of shopping, complete with iPhone photos. Everything from complaints about the destruction to editorials about Darla's use of the FF checkbook to buy new clothes for the girls. On the right hand side, the Twitter and Instagram feeds for the _Bugle_ are displaying even more angry messages about the events of the day.

Darla groans and rests her head on the table.

"I'm going back to being a pop star," she says. "I got better press."

"Cheer up," Scott says, patting her shoulder as he stands up. "The girls looked thrilled. And that's worth a million crappy headlines, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Darla mutters.

"Besides," Scott says. "I haven't even told you what Bentley and Alex got up to while you were gone. At least you guys were making memories. Bentley was making an actual replica of an abominable snowman."

Darla sits up. She can't help the smile threatening her face.

"Oh yeah?" she says.

"Let me cut you some cake and I'll tell you all about it," he says.

Tong and Onome and Luna reappear, chattering happily among themselves and sitting up at the table as Scott starts to slice the cake, and she can hear the far away peals of laughter from the other kids. It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, there's a delicious chocolate cake being passed around, and three little girls are tripping over themselves to tell Scott all about the fun they had out on the town with Darla and Jen.

 _Daily Bugle_ or not, maybe today wasn't so bad after all. Being a popstar can stay on the back burner for the moment. For now, she might just stick around the FF after all.


End file.
